Number Four Prospect: 3B - Josh Bell

[crawdad]

Not to mention that he has steadily improved at every single level he has risen to. You can see his stuff is getting better as his K rate continues to climb every year. Its also said that he could add more velocity as he fills out his frame.

One thing is for sure, if Arrieta showed development the same way Britton does, hed be a surefire #1 SP....

Performance-wise . . . Arrieta's hiccup was only during his promotion this summer to AAA. He threw better at AA than HiA. I still think Arrieta probably ranges somewhere between a closer type to a mid rotation guy. I certainly can understand why Britton's promise could outshine Arrieta as a prospect. Quite a few folks doubt Arrieta within our realm here and out in the trade journals.

[QBsILLEST1]

Performance-wise . . . Arrieta's hiccup was only during his promotion this summer to AAA. He threw better at AA than HiA. I still think Arrieta probably ranges somewhere between a closer type to a mid rotation guy. I certainly can understand why Britton's promise could outshine Arrieta as a prospect. Quite a few folks doubt Arrieta within our realm here and out in the trade journals.

My thing with Arrieta is that the same problems he had when he was drafted are the same ones he has now. He needed to work on his secondaries and improve his command....He has made progress with his changeup, fastball command and making the slider mor consistent, but his command overall still is lacking, and his changeup is still a work in progress. Still though, a guy with a mid 90 fastball, plus slider and average changeup with average command can be mid rotation guys.

I feel Jake is the better prospect than Britton, but I do believe Britton will end up becoming the better prospect in his peak but that entails a bit more development.......

[crawdad]

My thing with Arrieta is that the same problems he had when he was drafted are the same ones he has now. He needed to work on his secondaries and improve his command....He has made progress with his changeup, fastball command and making the slider mor consistent, but his command overall still is lacking, and his changeup is still a work in progress. Still though, a guy with a mid 90 fastball, plus slider and average changeup with average command can be mid rotation guys.

I feel Jake is the better prospect than Britton, but I do believe Britton will end up becoming the better prospect in his peak but that entails a bit more development.......

Right and I think part of that is the point at which they entered our system developmentally can affect how ones interprets skill trajectory.

[QBsILLEST1]

Right and I think part of that is the point at which they entered our system developmentally can affect how ones interprets skill trajectory.

I agree. It could also be said that Britton had so much longer of a way to go compared to Jake. Jake is at the point where he really just needs some refinement on his stuff(secondaries and command) Britton, until the end of this season had a lot more to work on and that much more room for improvement. So, are you pretty much saying that Jake actually has developed a ton, and possibly even developed quicker than Britton, depending on where he started at, but mainly developed during his college years, so by the time that he was with a ML organization closer to fully baked, he didnt seem to make as much progress because he already did before he was under our microscope?

I look at it like theres 2 big parts to developing, the 1st part is establishing your stuff, your command, the overall game. Then the 2nd part of the development that comes later on is the refinement and polishing everything you have included in your overall game which can take longer than the 1st part and is all different for everyone. So, this expected development of the changeup and command of Britton could take longer than atleast I personally have been theorizing because the 2nd part is a whole different ball game. This part may not develop as quickly as the first part.....

[Leitch]

A combination of

1. A great combination of groundball//strikeout pitcher

2. Still young with room to get better.

3. Rave report from Tony.

Yeah, I know Britton and I'm aware of what he did this year; I was just unaware that anyone even considered it a debate as to whether or not he's a better prospect than Jake Arrieta.

[Three Run Homer]

Perhaps Crowley can do something with him from that side of the plate?

To me this is the best argument for having him in Baltimore this season as a platoon player. If the club wants him to remain a switch hitter, then it would make sense for him to spend as much time as possible working on his rightly stroke with the King of Swing. I think his righty swing would improve more working in the cage with Crowley and sitting on the bench against (most) lefties than it would getting regular reps against AAA lefty pitching. And he can get an occasional at bat or spot start against lefties in the majors, to try stuff out in a game situation.

If Bell or the club decides that it's best for him to give up switch hitting, then he should start the season at Norfolk. His hitting mechanics from the left side are already reportedly quite good, so there's less reason for him to work with Crowley...what he'll need is experience in reading pitches coming from lefties, and I think he'll get more of that experience with regular reps at Norfolk than he would working in the cage in Baltimore.

[Mackus]

To me this is the best argument for having him in Baltimore this season as a platoon player. If the club wants him to remain a switch hitter, then it would make sense for him to spend as much time as possible working on his rightly stroke with the King of Swing. I think his righty swing would improve more working in the cage with Crowley and sitting on the bench against (most) lefties than it would getting regular reps against AAA lefty pitching. And he can get an occasional at bat or spot start against lefties in the majors, to try stuff out in a game situation.

If Bell or the club decides that it's best for him to give up switch hitting, then he should start the season at Norfolk. His hitting mechanics from the left side are already reportedly quite good, so there's less reason for him to work with Crowley...what he'll need is experience in reading pitches coming from lefties, and I think he'll get more of that experience with regular reps at Norfolk than he would working in the cage in Baltimore.

I really doubt that any MLB hitting coach is so much better than the instruction he will get at AAA to justify sitting him on the bench for a year and wasting a year of service time. That would essentially cost us about $15M if he pans out.

I think the argument that "Hey, he struggles against LHP so lets promote him to the majors!" is one that lacks any sort of coherent logic behind it.

[thundercleetz]

I have read that Bell's stroke from the right side is vastly different from his stroke on the left side in that it looks different and his bat speed on the right side is nowhere near the left side. If this is true, wouldn't you want him hitting from the left side no matter what? I am not sure how big of an adjustment it would be for Bell hitting lefties from the left side, but it is not like his bat speed would go away. In my opinion, he may have more potential against lefties from the left side than the right because his swing is just so clean and generates so much bat speed from the left side. Does anyone know what type of adjustment that would be like for Bell to stop switch hitting? Are there any notable hitters that gave up switch hitting?

[Arthur_Bryant]

I have read that Bell's stroke from the right side is vastly different from his stroke on the left side in that it looks different and his bat speed on the right side is nowhere near the left side. If this is true, wouldn't you want him hitting from the left side no matter what? I am not sure how big of an adjustment it would be for Bell hitting lefties from the left side, but it is not like his bat speed would go away. In my opinion, he may have more potential against lefties from the left side than the right because his swing is just so clean and generates so much bat speed from the left side. Does anyone know what type of adjustment that would be like for Bell to stop switch hitting? Are there any notable hitters that gave up switch hitting?

As ThreeRunHomer mentioned earlier, the big adjustment is in the different look of pitches. That's an adjustment, but not a huge one, and a lot of that can be made up in the cage with a lefty throwing BP.

[QBsILLEST1]

The same reason that it is expected for Bryce Harper to be a #1 overall pick while still at this point being an HSer is because he has a beautiful swing and he has good mechanics(though it got loopy as he fatigued toward the end of summer). Scouts figure that he should be able to learn to hit ML pitching because he has a very good swing and excellent power even though hes never actually hit against true ML pitching before, yet they just know/assume he will be able to....

You could say the same for Bell against LHP from the left side, he has excellent mechanics, very quick swing, very good power and a good hit tool. These tools dont translate to a .500 OPS I dont care how you put it. IMO its worth the try.....